Drawer arranger

ABSTRACT

There is disclosed a device for holding a set of tools in a drawer, which includes two notched strips having notches spaced and shaped to receive the tools and hold them out of contact with each other and slotted spacing members in contact with opposite interior vertical faces of the drawer receiving opposite ends of each notched strip in a slot thereby holding the strips with predetermined spacing, vertically with their notched edges up.

United States Patent 1 Boudreau 1 Sept. 24, 1974 1 1 DRAWER ARRANGER[76] Inventor: Donald A. Boudreau, 1390 Linton St., San Leandro, Calif.94577 22 Filed: Jan. 31, 1972 21 Appl. No.: 222,115

[52] US. Cl. 206/72, 206/376, 211/60 T, 220/223 [51] Int. Cl 865d 1/34,B65d 85/20 [58] Field of Search 217/7; 220/223; 206/16 R, 206/16 S, 12,1R, 16 D, 56 AB, 72, 75; 211/60 R, 60 T, 69.1; 248/201; 312/330,

351, DIG. 33

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 464,544 12/1891 Wood 220/2231,523,136 2/1925 OConnor 220/223 1,674,352 6/1928 Adams 217/7 X1,945,231 1/1934 Raabe 217/7 UX 1,995,335 3/1935 Wilke 220/223 X2,541,597 2/1951 Midling 211/60 T 2,781,897 2/1957 Dale 206/16 R2,940,200 6/1960 Hndlich ..206/l6 R X 3,612,637 10/1971 Belts 206/733,702,136 11/1972 Albcrtson 206/161) X 3,721,348 3/1973 Cook 211/60 T3,749,252 7/1973 Buschen 211/60 T FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS921,702 3/1963 Great Britain 206/75 Primary Examiner-William 1. PriceAssistant Examiner-Steven E. Lipman Attorney, Agent, or FirmHarrisZimmerman [5 7 ABSTRACT There is disclosed a device for holding a set oftools in a drawer, which includes two notched strips having notchesspaced and shaped to receive the tools and hold them out of contact witheach other and slotted I spacing members in contact with oppositeinterior vertical faces of the drawer receiving opposite ends of eachnotched strip in a slot thereby holding the strips with predeterminedspacing, vertically with their notched edges up.

8 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures DRAWER ARRANGER BACKGROUND Many sets oftools used by craftsmen or professionals are similar in shape butdistinguishable from each other by size or the configuration of theworking element. Typical of these are sets of end wrenches or dentiststools. For convenience in use and for protection of the tools it isdesirable to adapt storage drawers to hold each tool separate from theother and preferably in a predetermined arrangement so that each has aunique position where it can always be found. This is such an importantaspect of maintaining a set of tools that many sets come with their owncabinets which are already constructed with a unique position for eachtool. However, purchasing such cabinets is expensive and frequently notdesirable, for example, if built-in cabinets are already available.

THE INVENTION This invention is an inexpensive, readily installed drawerarranger for already existing drawers to hold a set of tools. Theinvention includes a pair of toolholding elements in the form of flatstrips having one edge notched with notches shaped to receive tools andspaced to hold them out of contact with each other. The invention alsoincludes a pair of spacers which lie in contact with opposing verticalinterior surfaces of the drawer and have vertical slots adapted toreceive the ends of the tool-holding elements.

The invention, and various embodiments of it, can be best described withreference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a partly cut-away perspective view of a drawer containing anarranger embodying this inventron.

FIGS. 2 and 3 are respectively a partial plan view and a partialelevation view of a drawer containing an arranger embodying thisinvention.

FIG. 4 is a plan view of a drawer containing an arranger embodying thisinvention. In all figures the same reference number is used to identifythe same element.

In FIG. 1 a drawer 10 constructed in the usual manner with a bottom 11and four vertically positioned members 12, 13, 14 and 15 is in the formof an opentopped box. The drawer of FIG. 1 could be oriented in acabinet in either direction, for example, with a drawer pull fixedeither to vertical member 12 or 13. Usually a drawer is deeper than itis wide so for purposes of illustration, element 13 will be consideredthe front of the drawer; in other words, the element visible when thedrawer is closed and in a cabinet.

The arranger of this invention is installed by first placing spacers l6and 17 adjacent vertical members 13 and 15 arranged with vertical slots18 facing toward the center of the drawer 10. Spacers l6 and 17 areillustrated with isosceles triangular cross sections with the slotsintersecting the angle included between the equal-length legs, althoughmany equivalent shapes for these elements can be used. Tool-holdingelements 19 and 20 are then placed with one end in each spacer andpositioned to have the proper position with respect to each other. InFIG. 1 the tool-holding elements are positioned to diverge toward theback of the drawer to hold a set of box wrenches 21 shown in brokenlines. The holders are divergent in that each wrench having a largeropening is longer to provide greater leverage to work a larger nut, andis held in a stable position only by wider-spread holding elements. Itis evident that a large number of slots 18 in each spacer affords anopportunity to have holding elements 19 and 20 diverge at any desiredangle.

The notches 22 in holding elements 19 and 20 are illustrated asright-triangular in shape, which is a shape that is general enough tohold almost any tool, but the notches may obviously be any shape toaccommodate special tools, and in fact each of holding elements 19 and20 may have different shaped notches for sets of tools being shapeddifferently at opposite ends. The term notch is intended to be genericand may include such arrangements as a series of holes in one holdingelement and U-shaped notches in the other whereby a tool may be held bybeing inserted through one holding element after which the other end islaid into the other. It is also intended that the term tool be usedgenerically to include such things as hypodermic needles, sewingequipment or other implements whether used in professions, crafts orotherwise.

The spacers and holding elements may be made specially to fit particulardrawers or they may be made in indeterminate lengths and cut to fitspecific drawers. They may also be made with indented or partially cutor otherwise pre-weakened portions so that proper lengths can be simplybroken off by frequent reverse bending along the pre-weakened cut orindentation. The arrangers of this invention may be fixed in a drawerwith screws, adhesive or the like, but preferably the arrangers aresimply placed in a drawer. Since the spacers cannot move axially in thatthey are restrained by the drawer and cannot move toward each otherbecause they are restrained by holding elements 19 and 20, simplyplacing the entire assembly in a drawer produces a structurally stablearranger. An additional advantage of this feature is that the arrangercan be placed in metal drawers without difficulty.

FIGS. 2 and 3 illustrate the interlocking of the various elements inmore detail as well as some variations on the embodiments of FIG. 1. InFIGS. 2 and 3 the tool-holding element 19 is oriented perpendicular tothe plane of drawer members 13 and 15 so that it would not diverge fromits opposing element 20. This arrangement will be useful for holding aset of tools of the same size but with different utility such asdentists tools. The tool-holding elements of FIGS. 2 and 3 are alsoformed with a flange 23 which lies flat against the bottom of the drawer11. A flange 23 may be useful to provide rigidity to the tool-holdingelement if it is extremely long or of very light gauge metal.

The embodiment of FIGS. 2 and -3 also illustrates the use ofpre-weakened slots for easy breaking of holding elements and spacers.Indentations 24 in the holding element 19 preferably extend from thebottom of each notch toward flange 23 and then across flange 23. In apreferred embodiment the portion extending from the bottom of notch 22toward the flange is cut through completely and a pre-weakenedindentation extends across flange 23. Of course, where the tool-holdingelement has no bottom flange but is in the form of a flat strip asillustrated in FIG. 1, it is essential that a preweakened area be notcut through.

Spacing means 16 and 17 may also be provided with pre-weakeningindentations 25. In addition to providing easy separation into desiredlengths, the provision of pre-weakened areas insures that notches inboth tool-holding elements will be aligned so that tools will be in thearranger of this invention with their axes square with the drawer.

FIG. 4 illustrates a plan view of an entire drawer arranged withparallel tool-holding elements 19 and 20 positioned to run from thefront to the rear of the drawer. Spacers 16 and 17 are illustratedpositioned against drawer members 13 and and lying with notches 22facing upward. When assembling the arranger of this invention in adrawer as illustrated in FIG. 4, it is preferred first to place thespacers adjacent members 13 and 15 and then to insert holding elements19 and 20. However, when the holding elements are made with a flange 23,the assembly is made by first placing holding elements 19 and 20 in thedrawer and then inserting spacers l6 and 17.

What is claimed is:

1. An insertable and removable universal arranger for holding a set oftools in a spaced array in a drawer which comprises in combination:

A. a drawer having at least two pairs of opposite facing verticalmembers;

B. two interchangeable tool-holding elements in the form of insertableand removable elongated strips having flat planar end portions andupwardly facing and opening notches in an upper edge thereof, saidnotches being shaped to receive said tools and spaced to hold said toolsout of contact with and generally parallel to each other when they areheld in adjacent notches, each of said notches being ofinverted-sawtooth configuration comprising only two edge surfaces whichintersect at a point spaced upwardly from the lower edge of said elementand which extend divergently upwardly therefrom and terminate at saidupper edge of said element, each said notch being capable of securelyaccommodating tools of varying shank diameters and shapes by permittingany tool to rest in simultaneous support contact with each of said notchsurfaces at a level measured vertically upwardly from said point ofintersection where the lateral distance between said notch surfaces isequal to said particular tools shank diameter at the point of supportcontact; and

C. first and second spacing means inserted in said drawer, each inrespective contact with one pair of opposite facing vertical members ofsaid drawer,

each said spacing means having angularly related walls defining anobtuse angle therebetween and defining with said associated drawermember a generally enclosed triangular chamber, said spacing meansfurther having parallel vertical slots extending through said wallsreceiving said end portions of said tool-holding elements in selectedangular dispositions and with said end portions being disposed withinsaid chambers, said slots being spaced generally along the length ofsaid spacing means and having walls which extend only vertically andgenerally normal to said length of said spacing means, each said spacingmeans being further held in contiguous contact with said respectivevertical members of said drawer solely by said opposite ends of saidtool-holding elements, said spacer means being inserted but releasablyremovable from said drawer, and

D. each of said tool-holding elements having its opposite ends engaged,respectively, in a vertical slot of each said first and second spacingmeans with its notched edge up, and further being inwardly spaced fromthe other pair of opposite vertical members of said drawer.

2. The device of claim 1 wherein said tool-holding elements areparallel.

3. The device of claim 1 wherein said tool-holding elements arenon-parallel. s

4. The device of claim 1 wherein said tool-holding elements are formedwith a flange attached to their nonnotched edge.

5. The device of claim lwherein said tool-holding elements are formedwith pre-weakened indentations.

6. The device of claim 1 wherein said spacing means are formed withpre-weakened indentations.

7. The device of claim 1 wherein said first and second spacing meanshave generally V-shaped cross-sectional areas, the apex of each crosssection extending inwardly into said drawer from its respective drawervertical member, said vertical slots extending from said apex toward itsrespective drawer vertical member.

8. The device of claim 1 wherein at least one said tool-holding elementhas a lower flange extending along'the complete linear length thereof,said flange terminating short of and remaining outside of its respectiveslots in said spacing means.

1. An insertable and removable universal arranger for holding a set oftools in a spaced array in a drawer which comprises in combination: A. adrawer having at least two pairs of opposite facing vertical members; B.two interchangeable tool-holding elements in the form of insertable andremovable elongated strips having flat planar end portions and upwardlyfacing and opening notches in an upper edge thereof, said notches beingshaped to receive said tools and spaced to hold said tools out ofcontact with and generally parallel to each other when they are held inadjacent notches, each of said notches being of inverted-sawtoothconfiguration comprising only two edge surfaces which intersect at apoint spaced upwardly from the lower edge of said element and whichextend divergently upwardly therefrom and terminate at said upper edgeof said element, each said notch being capable of securely accommodatingtools of varying shank diameters and shapes by permitting any tool torest in simultaneous support contact with each of said notch surfaces ata level measured vertically upwardly from said point of intersectionwhere the lateral distance between said notch surfaces is equal to saidparticular tool''s shank diameter at the point of support contact; andC. first and second spacing means inserted in said drawer, each inrespective contact with one pair of opposite facing vertical members ofsaid drawer, each said spacing means having angularly related wallsdefining an obtuse angle therebetween and defining with said associateddrawer member a generally enclosed triangular chamber, said spacingmeans further having parallel vertical slots extending through saidwalls receiving said end portions of said tool-holding elements inselected angular dispositions and with said end portions being disposedwithin said chambers, said slots being spaced generally along the lengthof said spacing means and having walls which extend only vertically andgenerally normal to said length of said spacing means, each said spacingmeans being further held in contiguous contact with said respectivevertical members of said drawer solely by said opposite ends of saidtool-holding elements, said spacer means being inserted but releasablyremovable from said drawer, and D. each of said tool-holding elementshaving its opposite ends engaged, respectively, in a vertical slot ofeach said first and second spacing means with its notched edge up, andfurther being inwardly spaced from the other pair of opposite verticalmembers of said drawer.
 2. The device of claim 1 wherein saidtool-holding elements are parallel.
 3. The device of claim 1 whereinsaid tool-holding elements are non-parallel.
 4. The device of claim 1wherein said tool-holding elements are formed with a flange attached totheir non-notched edge.
 5. The device of claim 1 wherein saidtool-holding elements are formed with pre-weakened indentations.
 6. Thedevice of claim 1 wherein said spacing means are formed withpre-weakened indEntations.
 7. The device of claim 1 wherein said firstand second spacing means have generally V-shaped cross-sectional areas,the apex of each cross section extending inwardly into said drawer fromits respective drawer vertical member, said vertical slots extendingfrom said apex toward its respective drawer vertical member.
 8. Thedevice of claim 1 wherein at least one said tool-holding element has alower flange extending along the complete linear length thereof, saidflange terminating short of and remaining outside of its respectiveslots in said spacing means.